Fleet tracking is becoming a norm across the transportation, delivery, service, and trucking industries. Because of this, companies are implementing GPS-based fleet management solutions to gain control over their fleets. GPS devices are able to collect and provide invaluable data points. Fleet management systems help translate this data into usable information that can help fleet managers make decisions.
Getting the GPS devices installed on your fleet is the easy part.
Making these solutions work for you and your business, however, takes thought and planning. Mike Houghton, Fleetmatics Director of Customer Experience, has given his 5 steps to successfully implement fleet management solutions.
1. Understand what GPS tracking can do for your business
GPS tracking is not only about monitoring where your employees are. Other benefits also include reduction in fuel costs, decrease in overtime pay, increase in operator compliance, and reduction in average travel time per job.
2. Introduce GPS tracking as a friend to employees
Many employees feel threatened by the idea of ‘big brother’ watching over them as they do their job. Introduce fleet tracking as a positive asset to them. GPS tracking gives them proof of location and service, proof that they did their job on time. It also provides better route guidance, faster emergency response, and improved vehicle maintenance.
3. Benchmark, benchmark, benchmark
This is where the saying “You can’t get where you’re going without knowing where you’ve been” comes in. You need to record prior data appropriately before fleet tracking so that your improvement after implementing fleet tracking is traceable and measurable. A good time frame is to measure before fleet tracking, then 90 days after implementing, then 6 months after and so on.
4. Define your goals
Make your goals simple and attainable. Out-of-reach goals can be overwhelming and cause frustration when immediate change is not seen. When it comes to fleet tracking, small edits in your day to day operations add up to big savings. For example, on average most commercial vehicles idle 1.22 hours per day. An attainable goal would be to make sure your fleet vehicles are reduced to a maximum of 15 minutes of idling per day.
5. Create an action plan
Now that GPS tracking is in place, you need to create an actionable plan to guide the business towards achieving the goals. Your plan should include using open communication, benchmarking, and monitoring fleet activity to better your business. Having a goal and a workable plan will make it easier for the success of GPS tracking to speak for itself.
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